Every three years in our nation, people who accept the rule of the majority undergo the much-cherished tradition of choosing, in a display of democratic fervor, a select group of individuals who will be entrusted with the privilege of presiding over our people’s lives. On 12 May, our nation will troop to the polls for this triennial event to elect our national and local leaders.

On this day, we will have the opportunity to choose to either retain the incumbent officials in recognition of their having performed their functions well or to replace them with other, better-deserving candidates who will serve the people more credibly and honestly.

Our people are now in the throes of election fever and candidates are pulling out all the stops, going all in to demonstrate in varying styles, in various shapes and forms, that they deserve to be elected. We have seen these range from the ridiculous to the sublime. But perhaps the most insidious is the dissemination of fake news to manipulate our minds, particularly of unsuspecting naive voters. Since this is the day the people’s voices can be heard, we better make sure we are choosing well.

What then should we consider in choosing our next set of leaders?

We need leaders who have integrity, with solid, moral and ethical foundations. We deserve to have honest leaders who are seeking office not to enrich themselves but to serve the people’s interests in a transparent manner.

We need leaders who are competent, educated, who have demonstrated these qualities with a proven track record to perform the functions of the particular office they are aspiring to.

We need leaders who are clearly aligned with the advocacies that we hold dear, with a vision for the future that would be beneficial to the community and not just to a select few.

Their promises should be intelligibly articulated in policies that they intend to pursue and are consistent with what they had promised and achieved in the past.

We need leaders who have the ability to make sound, well informed decisions without any hidden agenda to the detriment of the community.

We need God-centered leaders who have a heart and genuine concern for the people.

What we don’t need are wannabe leaders who rely on the names of their pater familias to get elected. What we don’t need are presumptuous scions of former or incumbent national leaders who believe they are entitled to assume the positions held by their parents or siblings.

What we don’t need are showbiz celebrities and entertainers who believe they can parlay their popularity into a cushy privileged public office job. What we don’t need are hypocritical lying individuals who at all cost seek votes by making wild promises they will never fulfill.

These do’s and don’ts of voting are obvious and straightforward. And yet we find ourselves, election after every election, when the hoopla is over with a bunch of mostly clowns and misfits laughing themselves all the way to public office with dreams of enduring powerful and financially rewarding dynasties.

Why is this so? What reforms are needed to finally get us out of this rut?

The most important thing is to educate the electorate about their patriotic duty to choose wisely and not be lured by promises of a few pesos. Surely this cannot be done overnight, especially in impoverished communities barely eking out a living to have a decent meal every day. But perhaps by starting the process early and inculcating in the hearts of our youth through civic-oriented school curriculums, we will have a better chance for change.

We also need to ensure that the voting process is untainted and free of any interference, electronic or otherwise, from the powers that be. We have dedicated citizens who have shown time and again that there are civic-minded individuals who are prepared to risk life and limb for the greater good of the community.

Our people are now in the throes of election fever and candidates are pulling out all the stops, going all in to demonstrate in varying styles, in various shapes and forms, that they deserve to be elected.

We need to strengthen campaign finance rules to ensure that the moneyed candidates do not have an undue advantage over others who are more deserving but are short of resources to reach out to the people.

The party-list system, which is meant to empower, democratize and reach out to various social groups, particularly the marginalized, underprivileged and underrepresented sectors of society, has obviously not achieved its objectives and needs to be reformed. But for a few exceptions, we have partylist groups that represent the wealthy and politically connected using all sorts of pseudonyms as a cover. We need to tighten the rules to ensure these loopholes are plugged.

These aspirations are surely not new but, nevertheless, for the sake of our country and the youth of tomorrow, we need to keep sending out this clarion call for change to as many as possible. Let’s all do our part.

Until next week… OBF!

For comments, email bing_matoto@yahoo.com.